Integrated pin and socket fiber optic cleaner tip

ABSTRACT

A cleaning module adapted to clean a socket style ferrule or a pin style ferrule of a connector includes a tip assembly extending from a housing comprising a tip adapted to receive a cleaning media. A retractable alignment sleeve sized to surround the pin style ferrule has a larger outer diameter than an inner diameter of a socket opening and moves along the tip assembly when the first end presses against a surface of the connector. A sleeve spring engages with a portion of the tip assembly and a first end of the retractable alignment sleeve. The tip assembly includes a block movably secured within a portion of the housing. A main spring may be engaged with the housing and engaged with an end portion of the block, wherein the sleeve spring has both a spring constant and total compressive force that are lower than that of the main spring.

CLAIM TO PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of the following U.S. patentapplication, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety: U.S.Ser. No. 15/924,419, filed Mar. 19, 2018 (FIQA-0003-U01).

U.S. Ser. No. 15/924,419 (FIQA-0003-U01) claims the benefit of thefollowing provisional application, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety: U.S. Ser. No. 62/473,455, filed Mar. 19, 2017(FIQA-0003-P01).

BACKGROUND Field

The methods and systems described herein generally relate to enhancedfiber optic cleaning methods and systems.

Description of the Related Art

Single fiber ferrules are found in connectors as both pins (exposed) andsockets (recessed). The performance of the fiber optic connectionrequires stringent cleanliness of the end faces. A variety of cleaningmethods have been widely in use, such as automated cleaning for bothsingle fiber and MT ferrules, which have multiple fibers, using a dry,contact cleaning technique. In certain cleaning devices and techniques,a separate cleaning cartridge, or alternatively a separate adapter, isrequired to clean ferrules configured as sockets versus pins.

In integrated inspection and cleaning systems, to make the integratedcleaning easy to use, certain systems avoid the use of adapters orexternal tips. Furthermore, it is highly desirable not to have to changecartridges to handle sockets and pins, especially in the case where bothtypes may co-exist in the same product.

Therefore, there remains a need for an improved method for cleaning ofboth pins and sockets with a single device.

SUMMARY

In an aspect, a cleaning module adapted to clean a ferrule socket or pinmay include a tip assembly comprising a tip, the tip adapted to receivea cleaning media, wherein the tip is moved to make contact with an endface of the ferrule and is further moved relative to the ferrule toclean the ferrule, a retractable alignment sleeve spring-mounted on aretractable alignment sleeve spring, wherein the sleeve retracts uponthe tip's insertion into the ferrule socket, and wherein the sleeve issized to surround the pin, and a main spring that extends the tipassembly, wherein the retractable alignment sleeve spring has both aspring constant and total compressive force that are lower than the mainspring. The cleaning module may include a circulation facility forcirculating the cleaning media within a housing of the cleaning moduleand on the tip to expose an unused portion of cleaning media thatcontacts the ferrule, wherein new unused cleaning media is continuallyprovided while used cleaning media is continually carried away. The tipmay be a rectangular tip adapted for cleaning optical fiber end faces ofMT connectors. The cleaning media may be selected from one or morematerials, such as polyester, nylon, a polyester fabric, a nylon fabric,or combinations thereof or other materials with mechanical propertieschosen for the specific cleaning requirements.

The cleaning module may include a force controller that controls a forcepushing the cleaning tip against the ferrule. The cleaning module mayinclude a mechanism for sensing the position of the cleaning tiprelative to the module.

All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated in their entiretyby reference. References to items in the singular should be understoodto include items in the plural, and vice versa, unless explicitly statedotherwise or clear from the text. Grammatical conjunctions are intendedto express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations ofconjoined clauses, sentences, words, and the like, unless otherwisestated or clear from the context.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention and the following detailed description of certainembodiments thereof may be understood by reference to the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a cleaning tip with the retractablealignment sleeve extended.

FIG. 2 is an illustration a cleaning tip with the retractable alignmentsleeve retracted.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a cleaning tip with the retractablealignment sleeve extended engaged with a pin.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an annular bump to retain the end of aspring.

FIG. 4C illustrates an annular bump to retain the end of a spring.

FIG. 5A illustrates a top down view of the cleaning assembly.

FIG. 5B illustrates the block and main spring of the cleaning assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure provides methods and systems related to enhanced fiberoptic end face cleaning. To obtain high levels of transmission in fiberoptic systems such as are found in communication systems and varioustypes of fiber optic sensors, it is important that the ends of the fiberoptic connections be clean and defect free when installed. Consequently,it is important to be able to clean the ends of fiber optic componentsincluding the optical fibers.

The disclosure herein concerns a novel, non-obvious cleaning tip designfor a cleaner cartridge or cleaner assembly 302 that includes a featurethat enables cleaning of both sockets and pins of a connector using asingle integrated device. Both sockets and pins may be mounted ininserts or other features of a parent connector. Sockets are ferrulesthat may be mounted recessed into an alignment sleeve in the connector'sinsert or housing. The pins may be mounted with the ferrule proud of theinsert or connector housing.

Referring to FIG. 1, the tip 100 of the cleaning assembly 302, housed inthe cleaner body 102 (which is only partially shown in FIG. 1), deliversthe cleaning media 104 to the part being cleaned. In the case ofsockets, this tip 100 must fit inside the alignment sleeve of theconnector's insert or housing. This means that the tip 100 must besmaller in diameter than the ferrule, which range in size from less than1 mm to up to 2.5 mm or more, depending on the ferrule or connector model. The same tip 100 would ordinarily not be able to clean a pin-styleferrule, as the tip 100 would not be held in place on the exposed end ofthe ferrule. This disclosure addresses this deficiency by adding aretractable alignment sleeve 108. The retractable alignment sleeve 108is spring-mounted on a spring 110 so that it remains extended tosurround or otherwise envelop a pin, but is automatically pushed out ofthe way when the retractable alignment sleeve 108 presses against thesurface of the connector insert and retracts upon the tip's 100insertion into a socket. In FIG. 1, the retractable alignment sleeve 108is extended, such as for use with pins. In FIG. 2, the retractablealignment sleeve 108 is retracted to expose the tip 100 and cleaningmedia 104, such as for use with sockets, where the tip 100 inserts intothe socket. An example of engagement with a pin inside a circularconnector 300 (e.g. a MIL-38999 circular connector) is shown in FIG. 3,where the retractable alignment sleeve 108 is extended and the tipassembly 302 is being pushed forward by a main spring 304. While FIGS.1-3 depict the cleaning tip 100 and retractable alignment sleeve 108 asbeing round, other shapes such as square, rectangular, oval, triangular,or any shape that best fits the ferrule type being cleaned are possible.

The spring 110 that extends the retractable alignment sleeve 108 hasboth a spring constant and total compressive force that may be lowerthan the main spring 304 for the overall cleaning tip. In embodiments,this configuration prevents the alignment sleeve spring 110 from workingagainst the main spring 304, retracting the entire tip mechanism. Thealignment sleeve's outer diameter is larger than the inner diameter ofthe insert opening, either continuously or by having a flanged end. Inuse on an insert-style ferrule, the retractable alignment sleeve 108will stop against the outside of the insert's opening, since the flangeis larger in diameter than the opening of the connector insert. Thecleaning tip 100 will continue to move forward, since the main spring304 is much stronger than the retractable alignment sleeve spring 108.When the alignment sleeve 108 presses against the surface of theconnector insert, it is constrained by that surface. The spring 304,which presses against the end of the block 308, or in a bore (not shown)on block 308, compresses as the cleaner continues to move toward theconnector. The cleaning tip 100 is free to continue to move along withthe rest of the cleaning cartridge. FIG. 5a shows a top down view of thecleaning assembly 302 and the placement of the spring 304 against theblock. In FIG. 5b , the block 308 has been removed from the assembly 302to show how the spring 304 rests in a bore on the block 308.

Once the inner tip 100 makes contact with the ferrule, the entire tipassembly 302 retracts until the cleaner body 102 stops moving forward.In embodiments, the cleaner may include a mechanism for sensing theposition of the cleaning tip 100 relative to the cleaner body 102. Anynumber of position sensors could be used, such as mechanical devicescoupled to a potentiometer, measuring the applied spring force, a magnetsensor, an optical non-contact sensor, and the like. This positioninformation may be used to control the total applied force during thetip engagement with the ferrule end face, such as with a forcecontroller. The force pushing the cleaning tip 100 against the fiberoptic may be controlled by a force controller.

FIG. 4A illustrates an annular bump 402 of the retaining member 112 thatserves to retain spring 110 on the tip. FIG. 4B also shows the annularbump 402, with the spring 110 and alignment sleeve 108 removed forbetter visibility. FIG. 4C shows an annular bump 408 on the alignmentsleeve 108 which also serves to retain the spring 110. In someembodiments, retaining member 112 may be a portion of or continuous withblock 308, while in other embodiments, retaining member 112 and block308 are separate items.

The cleaning media 104 may be a thread-based cleaning media however,other cleaning media are possible such as fabrics, yarns or felts. Thecleaning media 104 may include various lint-free materials including forexample, polyester, nylon, or any other suitable material. The cleaningmedia 104 may be guided through the cleaning tip 100 so that when thecleaning tip 100 is pushed forward to contact the part to be cleaned,the cleaning media 104 is pulled across it which results in a cleaning.The tension and speed of movement of the cleaning media 104 may becontrolled by a cleaning media controller.

In some embodiments, during the cleaning process, the cleaning media 104may be moved by a cleaning media controller from a supply spool througha media guide slot of the tip 100 to a take-up spool, where the supplyspool and the take-up spool may be located inside the cleaning mediacontroller or may be external to it. The cleaning media 104 may besupplied on the supply spool and the take-up spool as a cartridge (notshown) that is inserted into or located adjacent to the cleaning mediacontroller. A media guide slot (not shown) may guide the cleaning media104 down the length of the cleaning tip 100 such that the cleaning media104 is at least partially exposed at the cleaning tip 100 during thecleaning process and contact is achieved with the fiber optic with theforce provided by the spring 304 and/or force controller. Inembodiments, it is the dragging of the cleaning media 104 across the endof the fiber optic and the cleaning properties of the cleaning media104, such as the abrasiveness relative to contaminations, that determinethe effectiveness of the cleaning process. By dragging the cleaningmedia 104 through the cleaning tip 100, new unused cleaning media 104 iscontinually provided while used cleaning media 104 along with particlesand materials that have been removed from the end of the fiber opticfrom the cleaning process are continually carried away.

The cleaning tip 100 may be used to clean a variety of fiber optics,ferrules and fiber optic connectors, including connectors with singlefiber or multi-terminal fibers. Exemplary types include cylindricalferrules with single fibers, such as FC, SC, ST, LC, MU, SMA, andferrules with multiple fibers such as MT, MPO, and PRIZM. In addition,multiple ferrules, also called termini, may be housed in various stylesof round or rectangular connectors, such as MIL-38999 circularconnectors, and array connectors.

The cleaning tip 100 of this disclosure can be integrated with othersystems, such as ferrule cameras, integrated fiber optic inspection andcleaning systems, and the like. The cleaning tip 100 may form a modularcomponent of the integrated fiber optic inspection and cleaning system,for example.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferredembodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications andimprovements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention isnot to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood inthe broadest sense allowable by law.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cleaning module adapted to clean a socket styleferrule or a pin style ferrule of a connector, comprising: a housing; atip assembly extending from the housing, the tip assembly comprising atip, the tip adapted to receive a cleaning media; a retractablealignment sleeve with a first end thereof having a larger outer diameterthan an inner diameter of a socket opening, the retractable alignmentsleeve adapted to move along the tip assembly during use between a firstposition adjacent the tip and a second position displaced from the tipin a direction toward the housing, wherein the retractable alignmentsleeve retracts when the first end presses against a surface of theconnector, and further wherein the retractable alignment sleeve is sizedto surround the pin style ferrule; a sleeve spring having a first endportion engaged with a portion of the tip assembly and a second endportion engaged with the first end of the retractable alignment sleeve,the tip assembly comprising a block movably secured within a portion ofthe housing; and a main spring engaged with the housing and engaged withan end portion of the block that allows the tip assembly to moverelative to the housing during use, and further wherein the sleevespring has both a spring constant and total compressive force that arelower than that of the main spring.
 2. The cleaning module of claim 1,wherein the cleaning module comprises a guide slot to continuallyprovide an unused portion of cleaning media to the tip that contacts thesocket style ferrule or the pin style ferrule, and wherein the cleaningmedia is continually carried away after use.
 3. The cleaning module ofclaim 1, wherein the tip is a rectangular tip adapted for cleaningoptical fiber end faces of MT connectors.
 4. The cleaning module ofclaim 1, wherein the cleaning media is selected from one or more of apolyester fabric, a nylon fabric, a thread-based cleaning media, afabric, a yarn, a felt, and a lint-free material.
 5. The cleaning moduleof claim 1, wherein the tip assembly is mounted to the block.
 6. Thecleaning module of claim 1, wherein the tip assembly is integral withthe block.